Mass circumcision campaign in high gear

Early this year, the Ministry of Health declared its intention to include circumcision as a control strategy for the HIV spread. Studies presented at an annual conference in July suggested that circumcision reduces a man's risk of contracting the virus from an infected sexual partner by as much as 60 percent.

The voluntary circumcision programme has started, and Government has already lined the military to launch the exercise. Parents have also been encouraged to have their children less than 5years circumcised.

At a training workshop early this week for about a dozen local trainers who will also train others, the Canadian doctors show-cased techniques some of which are just for children.

Team-leader Dr. Neil Pollock presented a technique used in Canada on babies. The advantage with this method, according to Dr. Pollock, is that grave bleeding is avoided and there is rapid healing.

However, government has been keen to maintain that the circumcision will not replace all the other methods that have been used to control HIV.

Removing the fore-skin does not mean a 100% protection against infection that is why we would like the public to keep the gains we have made, said Dr. Asiimwe Anita, Executive Secretary of the National Aids Commission (CNLS).

"People must be made aware that although circumcision is beneficial, there is still a 40 percent risk of HIV transmission, so they must know that it must be used in conjunction with another HIV prevention method, such as condom use" she said.

Available statistics indicate that HIV prevalence in the army is estimated at between 2% and 3% – slightly lower than the national average of three percent. Intense prevention activities have been carried out since the mid-1990s, and barracks and military hospitals are plastered with billboards and posters urging soldiers to use condoms and be tested for HIV.

Unlike many other cultures in the region, Rwandan men and boys are not circumcised as a rite of passage, so it is unclear exactly how many men are circumcised but the number is presumed to be low. Research is underway to determine the percentage of men eligible for circumcision.

Meanwhile, Rwanda's Centre for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, known as TRAC PLUS, is to conduct a 'knowledge, attitude and practice' survey in the army to determine the level of awareness-raising needed, followed by a similar survey among the general population ahead of national rollout of the programme in 2009.